Thursday, August 19, 2010

Poll: Public Doesn't Know President Obama's Beliefs


August 19, 2010 on Fox & Friends
Pew Forum: Growing Number of Americans Say Obama is a Muslim

30 comments:

  1. It couldn't have anything to do with Obama opponents insinuating that he's a muslim.

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  2. Obama's just pretends because he knows he wouldn't get elected anyways.

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  3. <span> </span>
    Why does his religion or non-religion matter?

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  4. because this is 'Merka dammit!

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  5. Doing it best to (not-)educate the masses

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  6. Gee, FOX NEWZ, who could possibly be responsible for this kind of misconception? I'm so glad FOX NEWZ is here to set the record straight.

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  7. So when Fox runs a story clearly stating that Obama is a Christian, we should blame FOX for people thinking he's a Muslim, even though a large portion of the people confused about Obama's faith are his supports (see not Fox News junkies).  So basically if a video is from Fox, that means it's time to jump in with a "LOL Faux News" joke as quickly as possible instead of actually watching the videos.

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  8. Fox isn't reporting it to educate people that Obama is a Christian. It is so they can say "lots of people think he is a Muslim" and "people say he is not a Christian" as many times as possible. As well as bring up the fact that he doesn't go to church.

    What do you think the average Fox viewer is going to take away from that piece?

    "Americans are ignorant" or "Obama might be a Muslim"

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  9. Well as a Fox viewer myself (though I also watch the PBS news hour and get my news from other written and audio sources as well) I can say that I don't believe Obama is a Christian.  i think he's a Deist.

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  10. Wow, you characterize this video as "clearly stating that Obama is a Christian"? Did you watch a different video than I did? I heard one occurence of "Obama is a Christian", and about many occurences of "Obama is not a Christian". I heard Obama is not a Christian because he "doesn't go to church (frequently enough)/doesn't belong to a specific church (in DC)/doesn't mention God in his speeches (frequently enough)/he's actually a muslim/only acted like a Christian for the campaign".

    Fox was only conjecturing reasons why people think he's not a Christian, and not stating that he is not a Christian. But notice, these reasons are conjecture, this was not from the poll. The poll did ask an open ended response for how people they came to learn about Obama's beliefs--not why they believed what they believed.

    There is a deliberate conflation of the questions "to what religion Obama claim to belong" and "do you believe what Obama is lying about his beliefs". After watching this video, you are meant to believe it is justifiable to ask the 2nd question, and are given examples of reasons why people answer with "No".

    It is never called into question whether there is any reason to doubt the president's professed beliefs, nor any reasons why you should belief he is being honest.

    None of these lies are corrected: that Obama himself claims to be a muslim, that he was raised as a muslim, that he was indoctrinated in Islam as a child, that he hid the fact that he attended a madrassa.

    This was, without a doubt, a propaganda piece. It is meant to promote skepticism of the fact that Obama is a Christian. You are proof that it works, as you now think it is appropriate the speculate that Obama is a Deist.

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  11. Wow, you characterize this video as "clearly stating that Obama is a Christian"? Did you watch a different video than I did? I heard one occurence of "Obama is a Christian", and dozens of occurences of "Obama is not a Christian". I heard Obama is not a Christian because he "doesn't go to church (frequently enough)/doesn't belong to a specific church (in DC)/doesn't mention God in his speeches (frequently enough)/he's actually a muslim/only acted like a Christian for the campaign".

    Fox was only conjecturing reasons why people think he's not a Christian, and not stating that he is not a Christian. But notice, these reasons are merely conjecture, and conjecture that was not from the poll, nor was it conjecture published by the pew researchers. The poll did ask an open ended response for how people they came to learn about Obama's beliefs--not why they believed what they believed. Why did Fox choose to include this conjecture, instead of spending the time in the segment to state facts relevant to the story and correct misinformation?

    None of these lies were corrected: that Obama himself claims to be a muslim, that he was raised as a muslim, that he was indoctrinated in Islam as a child, that he hid the fact that he attended a madrassa.

    There is a deliberate conflation of the questions "to what religion Obama claim to belong" and "do you believe what Obama is lying about his beliefs". No one asks whether there is any actual reason to doubt the president's professed beliefs. But plenty of conjecture (from Fox, not Pew) is reported, and it takes the form of reasons a growing number of peopel people disbelieve Obama's self-identified religion.

    This was, without a doubt, a propaganda piece. It is meant to promote skepticism of the fact that Obama is a Christian. You seem to be evidence that it works, as you now think it is appropriate the speculate that Obama is a Deist.

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  12. Wow, you characterize this video as "clearly stating that Obama is a Christian"? Did you watch a different video than I did? I heard one occurence of "Obama is a Christian", and dozens of occurences of "Obama is not a Christian". I heard Obama is not a Christian because he "doesn't go to church (frequently enough)/doesn't belong to a specific church (in DC)/doesn't mention God in his speeches (frequently enough)/he's actually a muslim/only acted like a Christian for the campaign".

    Fox was only conjecturing reasons why people think he's not a Christian, and not stating that he is not a Christian. But notice, these reasons are merely conjecture, and conjecture that was not from the poll, nor was it conjecture published by the pew researchers. The poll did ask an open ended response for how people they came to learn about Obama's beliefs--not why they believed what they believed. Why did Fox choose to include this conjecture, instead of spending the time in the segment to state facts relevant to the story and correct misinformation?

    None of these lies were corrected: that Obama himself claims to be a muslim, that he was raised as a muslim, that he was indoctrinated in Islam as a child, that he hid the fact that he attended a madrassa.

    There is a deliberate conflation of the questions "to what religion Obama claim to belong" and "do you believe what Obama is lying about his beliefs". No one asks whether there is any actual reason to doubt the president's professed beliefs. But plenty of conjecture (from Fox, not Pew) is reported, and it takes the form of reasons a growing number of peopel people disbelieve Obama's self-identified religion.

    This was, without a doubt, a propaganda piece. It is meant to promote skepticism of the fact that Obama is a Christian. You seem to be evidence that it works, as you now think it is appropriate the speculate that Obama is a Deist.

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  13. I'm not optimistic enough to believe he's not the Christian he claims to be.

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  14. What is the differences if he's a Christian or a Muslim he is doing the job, both are the same bulls...! There is good or bad in both religion. 

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  15. Fox can't even spell muslim right.

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  16. LOL, yes...missed that the first time round! Not surprising really as there is an established high correlation between very religious people and bad spelling.

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  17. After implying and insinuatiing for close to two years about Obama being a Muslim Fox News & Republcians are shocked to find 24% of Americans think he's a Muslim.  These people are lunatics.  As Gore Vidal said,<span><span><span> at any given moment, public opinion is a chaos of superstition, misinformation, and prejudice.  Fox News has contributed mightily to that confusion and misinformation.
    </span></span></span>

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  18. I've thought all along that he was non-religious and either a atheist/ agnostic or a deist. He is a polititian first though, and if anything does come out about his true beliefs it'll be well into a second term or even after.

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  19. My reasoning for believing that Obama is a deist is because my father is a Protestant minister and a closet deist.  I think I've gotten really good at noticing the way that deists sidestep theological justifications (often by attempting to connect everything with God, and avoiding referencing scriptural passages that deal directly with the main prophets of a given religion).

    Now this could be that the result of a politician attmepting to broaden the appeal of religiously founded arguments would adopt the style of Deists as a matter of pragmatism.  But to me it seems that Obama is a deist, claiming to be a Christian (which might actually be fairly common among politicians).  This position has nothing to do with Fox News however, and for you to assume that my opinion is based on my being swayed by Fox is insulting.  I'm not offended, but you shouldn't assume stupidity when someone disagrees with you, or you'll end up blinding yourself is a smug snese of superiority.

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  20. So, for years Fox and other media outlets were asking questions about Obama and his relatives; parental origin (Kenya), education (madrassas), affiliation (Ayers).  They have been insinuating he leans to islam or terrorism since he began his campaign for the President.  Now, they are simply apalled that people would even consider he is not a christian.

    And, Andrew, simply because YOU watch Fox and don't beleive Obama is other than christian is irrelevant.  YOU are not the 18% they are talking about, and it does not show they are not biased or not part of the circus that leads people to believe he is muslim.

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  21. Oh no.  Fox is bias for sure.  I'm not denying that.  I'm just wondering why people are bashing Fox over this video, since this clip seems to actually be an example of Fox doing a decent job.

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  22. Andrew, perhaps it would be more obvious if you compared Fox's coverage of this issue with that of the other networks. On a couple of other broadcasts that I saw yesterday, the piece on the Pew survey was followed by coverage of the Whitehouse press release confirming Obama's Christianity. Despite their phony incredulity over the Pew findings, Fox News apparently saw no need to pass along that clarification.

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  23. may be dumb Americans don't know but he is fucking Zionist. and americans are fool enough to control by them.

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  24. Well here's the AP news video:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4iCQg50Iwg

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  25. Hmmm, yeah.  Okay, I see it now.  If I'm watching the Fox coverage I'm supposed to come away thinking, "Everybody doubts Obama's faith... he's probably a Muslim."  I'm not sure the AP one is entirely unbias either, but the Fox one is much more heavy handed.  I guess I didn't see it because the notion that Obama might only be pretending to be a Christian would actually a plus for me, so what came off as favorable coverage for me, is actually meant to be an attack.  My mistake, I forgot that I'm not Fox's target audience and I didn't channel fundi enough to see the intended message.

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  26. The difference in the headlines is telling:

    Fox: Confusion over Religion: Public Doesn't Know President's Beliefs

    AP: Growing Number Incorrectly Call Obama Muslim

    Notice how one of them actually addresses the mistake, whereas the other (if anything) perpetuates it?

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  27. I have to admit, as much as I despise the misuse (abuse?) of their talents, I remain in awe of Fox's propaganda skills ;-) They can successfully propagate a meme in the face of the most overwhelming contrary evidence!

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  28. Yes, I worded that too strongly, and it was insulting. My apologies. I didn't want (but I was aware when I hit submit) to imply that this piece alone shaped your beliefs. I had lost my post once already, and I was tired of typing it up again. I'm often dickish, but this time it was laziness.

    I just think it's absurd to speculate about what's going on in someone's head. Perhaps he's a typical closet Deist. He also seems to me to be a very smart person who can make all sorts of tangled rationalizations. In my experience those kinds of people either maintain an impenatable web of twisted logic or ditch religion all together, maybe after a relatively brief Deist phase.

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  29. Whats a MULSIM? (33seconds)

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  30. Dan the anti-theistAugust 21, 2010 at 8:46 AM

    Funny how the possibility of him being an atheist who's putting on a Chrisitan front isn't an option.

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